Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210 to Power Eurocopter X4

Rotorhub revealed that a Pratt & Whitney engine would feature on the new aircraft in February, but at the time Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling would not reveal the model or size of the engine. PW&C revealed details about the engine’s involvement in the X4 project in a press release on 25 April. ’With a PW210 engine you get high power, fast response and the lowest fuel burn in this market segment,’ said Richard Dussault, VP of marketing at P&WC. In a statement? ’That means payload and range benefits that keep our customers’ assets flying efficiently and reliably. ’We have focused our technology on fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and maintenance technologies that deliver real value to our operators,’ he added. The PW210 variant to be fitted to the X4 will feature new alloys to improve its lifecycle and a dual-channel FADEC for engine control. PW&C also said the engine will employ what it calls a ‘state-of-the-art diagnostics capability, including automatic fractional cycle counting to minimise downtime and keep PW210 operators flying’.
The addition of the PW210 means that X4 customers will have two engine options available. The other engine will result from Turbomeca’s TM800 demonstrator engine which is expected to be available from 2017 and is designed to produce around 1,100 shp and deliver a 20%+ reduction in fuel consumption. No power or fuel consumption figures for the X4’s PW210 engines have been released by the company as yet. The PW210 also features on the Sikorsky S-76D in the PW210S version and on the AW169 in the PW210A derivative. The ‘S’ model was certified in 2011 and the A version is slated for certification in 2013.